In this section you will find details of the history of the 45eme, Officers names, casualty details, and a history of the regiment's involvement during the Waterloo Campaign. There are details and pictures of the 45eme eagle and standard included here.

 

Regimental History (History During Restoration and Waterloo Campaign)

 

The 45e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne was originally created in 1643 as the Regiment de la Reine-Mere. It was part of the Armee d'Italie in 1792-94 and formed part of the l'Interieure and de Reserve during the period 1795-99. A flag taken at the fall of Mantua on 30 July 1799, and now on show in the Army Museum in Vienna, belonged to the 3e bataillon 45e and has the pont de Lodi, Bataille de Castiglione, combat sur la Brenta, Bataille d'Arcolo, 1re et 2e Bataille de Rivoli and the Bataille de St George shown on it.

 

 

 

1643: Created as Regiment de la Reine-Mere

1666: Renamed Regiment d'Arois

1673: Renamed Regiment de la Couronne

1791: 45e Regiment de Infanterie

1793: 45e demi-brigade de bataille (formed from the following)

1er bataillon 23e Regiment de Ligne

1er bataillon Volontaires des Basse-Alpes

1er bataillon Volontires de la Lozere

1796: 45e demi-brgade d'Infanterie de Ligne (formed from the following)

100e demi-brigade de bataille (2e Bat 50e Regt d'Inf, 7e Bat Vol des Bouches-du-Rhone and Bat Vol de Tarascon)

105e demi-brigade de bataille (1er Bat, 53e Regt d'Inf and 1er and 2e Bat Vol du Gers)

Bataillon Volontaires des Basse-Alpes

1803: 45e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne

 

 

Colonels and Chef-de-Brigade

 

1791: Moyria (Joseph-Marie-Anne de) - Colonel

1792: Chalain (Charles-Antoine-Guillaume Blandin de) - Colonel

1793: Goullus (Francois) - Colonel

1794: Bourset () - Chef-de-Brigade

1795: Giraud (?) - Chef-de-Brigade

1796: Philippe (?) - Chef-de-Brigade

1799: Barrie (Jean-Leonard) - Chef-de-Brigade and Colonel in 1803

1811: Vare (Pierre-Louis) - Colonel

1813: Freytag (Jean-Daniel) - Colonel

1815: Chapuzet (Loius-Guillaume-Joseph) - Colonel

 

Three of the above officers attained the rank of General-de-Brigade

 

Chalain (Charles-Antoine-Guillaume Blandin de)

Born: 7 June 1740

Colonel: 29 June 1792

General-de-Brigade: 30 July 1793

Died: ?

 

Goullus (Francois)

Born: 4 July 1758

Chef-de-Brigade: 12 April 1793

Wounded 5 September 1793

General-de-Brigade: 17 February 1797

Commander of the Legion d'Honneur: 14 June 1804

Baron of the Empire: 13 August 1811

Died: 7 September 1814

 

Barrie (Jean-Leonard)

Born: 30 October 1774

Chef-de-Brigade: 4 May 1800

Colonel: 1803

General-de-Brigade: 27 November 1810

Commander of the Legion d'Honneur: 22 November 1808

Baron of the Empire: 27 November 1808

Died: 15 February 1848

 

Colonels killed and wounded while commanding the 45e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne

 

Colonel Barrie: wounded 28 July 1809

Colonel Vare: killed 30 July 1813

 

Officers killed and wounded while serving with the 45e Regiment d'Infanterie during the period 1804-1815

 

Officers killed: Twenty-seven

Officers died of wounds: Nine

Officers wounded: One hundred and twelve

 

French 45e Regiment d'Infanterie de Ligne Officer Casualties during the Period 1805-1815:

 

Date                          Killed                DOW               Wounded

 

02/12/1805                    0                      0                      1

25/01/1807                    0                      0                      1

16/02/1807                    0                      0                      2

14/06/1807                    1                      0                      2

03/12/1808                    0                      0                      1

08/02/1809                    0                      0                      1

14/05/1809                    1                      0                      1

22/05/1809                    1                      0                      9

05/07/1809                    0                      0                      1

06/07/1809                    0                      1                      3

28/07/1809                    3                      2                      14

14/08/1809                    0                      0                      1

15/11/1810                    0                      0                      1

05/03/1811                    2                      0                      2

15/04/1811                    0                      0                      1

16/04/1811                    1                      0                      0

16/05/1811                    2                      0                      3

05/-9/1812                     0                      0                      1

29/09/1812                    0                      0                      1

10/11/1812                    2                      0                      3

29/11/1812                    1                      0                      1

09/06/1813                    0                      0                      1

21/06/1813                    1                      2                      3

28/06/1813                    0                      0                      1

28/07/1813                    0                      0                      3

30/07/1813                    1                      0                      0

31/07/1813                    0                      0                      1

22/08/1813                    2                      0                      3

26/08/1813                    0                      0                      4

03/09/1813                    0                      0                      1

10/09/1813                    1                      0                      1

24/09/1813                    0                      0                      2

08/10/1813                    0                      1                      5

10/11/1813                    0                      0                      3

27/02/1814                    1                      0                      2

20/03/1814                    1                      0                      1

10/04/1814                    1                      3                      3

18/06/1815                    3                      0                      28

 

Totals                           27                    9                      112

 

Regimental war record (Battles and Combats)

 

1792: Valmy and Siege of Lille

1793: Nerwinden and Wattignies

1794: Courtrai and Capture of Ypres

1796: Lodi, Mantoue, Saint-Georges, and Castiglione

1797: Mantoue

1799: Magnano, Cassano, Novi, Gavi, and Tortone

1801: Casa-Nova

1805: Austerlitz

1806: Crewitz and Lubeck

1807: Ostrelenka and Friedland

1808: Espinosa-de-los-Monteros

1809: Alcantara, Aspern-Essling, Wagram, Talevera-de-la-Reina, and Almonacid

1811: Barrosa, Fuentes-de-Onoro, and Albuera

1812: Cadiz

1813: Vittoria, Echalar, Nivelle, and Bayonne

1813: Dresden and Dantzig

1814: Garris, Orthez, and Toulouse

1815: Waterloo

Battle Honours

Lodi 1796, Austerlitz 1805, and Friedland 1807.

 

Thanks to Tony Broughton for supplying the Regimental History details.

 

Waterloo. The Death of the Eagle (translated by Paul Wisken) from an article published in Weapons and Militaria magazine,1980.

 

During a banquet, to a British officer who asked him to describe the separate phases of the battle of Waterloo, Lord Wellington replied that it was as difficult to recount a battle as to describe a ball. However today we will try to describe a small part of the great battle where the future of Europe - that is to say the world - was played out.

 

The morning of 18th June 1815. The 45eme de Ligne takes position facing the plateau of Mont-Saint-Jean in the sodden rye fields, and in marching the men tried to warm themselves up beneath the feeble glow of the sun.  The earth, soaked with water, glued itself to the soles of their shoes and the wheels of the cannons which the poor horses had a hard job dragging out of the ruts.  The men, who had camped in the pouring rain, were soaked to the bone.  In the centre of his company, Lt. Pierre Guillot uncovered the eagle of the 45eme; the "golden cuckoo", the cravat and the flag material appearing spanking new .. perhaps too new.  Guillot misses the old emblem of 1804 on which the eagle was so beautiful with its gold crown, given by the people of Paris.  Like many of its sisters it had assisted in so many victories and flown over so many battlefields that the new King of France was in its shade and had ordered its destruction.  And so the eagle of the 45th had flown away. in smoke.  Now the officer contemplates the poet's "dull plain" , as far as his eye can see he sees thousands of infantry and cavalry.

 

Positioned like himself in the first line, Guillot recognises to his left the infantry of Donzelot's and Quiot's divisions.  To his right, beyond his friends in Marcognet's division, he sees the shakos of Durutte's soldiers, and the lancers and hussars of Jacquinot's division.  In the second line, beyond his brothers in arms of the 25eme, he sees the shining cuirasses of the 8 regiments of "big milk cows" which the centaur Milhaud commands.  Finally almost at the end of the plain, impeccably strapped into their scarlet or blue Kurtkas, Guillot recognises the light cavalry of the Guard lined up beside the legendary Chasseurs a Cheval.  Reassured by their presence, the eagle-bearer of the 45eme now turns his eye towards the plateau of Mont St Jean, topped by a track bordered with hedges, behind which he detects the presence of thousands of red coats.  Towards one o'clock, 80 pieces of artillery concentrated on the plateau of la Belle Alliance open up.  in fact, plenty of noise for little effect, because the cannons are placed far to far from Wellington's reserves.  The bombardment continues for nearly half an hour, the British replying shot for shot, and the plain is covered with terrible smoke.  On the orders of an ADC to Drouet D'Erlon (1), Colonel Chapuset  gives the signal to attack.  Oddly grouped in column, the two battalions of the 45eme de Ligne start the assault, muskets in the crook of the elbow.

 

The men sing out the "Chant du depart".  Wow, what a target for the enemy!  Imagine the battalions grouped with a frontage of 15 men, starting to climb the long grassy slope, made slippery by the incessant rain which has been falling for a fortnight!  Pierre Guillot's (2) legs sink into the sodden earth, re-awakening his old wounds;  the drums beat the charge, the pace increases.  With a cry of "Vive l'Empereur", the soldiers breast the plateau when suddenly the Scots of Picton's (3) division reveal themselves.

 

One instant, Guillot sees the elegant uniforms of the Gordon Highlanders (92nd Regt) all covered with mud, then a terrible fusillade booms out, knocking down most of the soldiers in the front ranks.  The moment the stupor passes, the men revive themselves, attacking with the bayonet and throwing back the Gordons.  Victory seems in their grasp when suddenly the sound of thunder descends upon them. Certainly not the thunder of an epic charge like the talented Lady Butler (4) painted; no, a simple cavalry attack arriving at the psychological moment and led by the hand of Colonel Ponsonby.  Immortally known by the name of "Scots Greys", the horsemen of the Royal North British Dragoons penetrate into our ranks, sabring all in their way with the cry of "No quarter", which is not very nice of soldiers whose ancestors were the subjects of a queen of France (5). Terrified, our unlucky soldiers fled; the bravest tried to form a square, but it was too late and with this damned mud which stuck to the shoes, the ground did not help the flight. In combat, the opportunity to seize an enemy flag would not be missed by the Scottish soldiers; which is why Sergeant Ewart attacked Lieutenant Guillot.  It is difficult to know exactly what happened,   what we can say is that the eagle bearer of the 45th was not killed or even wounded!  Almost alone and without help, did he slip on the sodden ground while trying to defend his emblem, or was he knocked down by Ewart's horse?  As far as we know, Guillot (6) fell to the ground unable to rise alone because of his old wounds, he could not prevent the Scots from taking the emblem that he was entrusted with. We know that the eagle bearer never told his story to his children, because if the Napoleonic legend is full of great deeds, it forgets the defeats; it is true that for our old enemies, it is the same!

The great French comic, Alphonse Allais has previously remarked that the English have given the names of the greatest defeats - Trafalgar and Waterloo - to their principal monuments.

The eagle of the 45eme was captured at Waterloo and now resides in Edinburgh Castle. The eagle is the 1815 model although the numerals on the base are from the original 1804 pattern eagle.

 

NOTES

 

(1) Jean-Baptiste DROUET, Count of Erlon, was one of the rare confidents of the Emperor. At the start of the 100 days, he seized the stronghold of Lille and was then compensated by being named Commander in Chief of the 1st corps of the Observation Army of the North and peer of France. Banished after the return of Louis XVIII, he fled to   Germany  where he ran a brasserie. Condemned to death in absentia, he was granted amnesty by Charles X and died Marshall of France on the 25th January 1844, He was 79.

On the 10th June 1815 the first 2 Battalions of the 45th, which totalled 43 Officers and 960 men commanded by Colonel CHAPUSET, formed, along with the 25th Regiment, the GRENIER brigade of the MARCOGNET division of the first Army Corps of the North which was commanded by Lieutenant DROUET d'ERLON. The losses at Waterloo were vast, so much so that a survey of the situation on the 24th June 1815 revealed that the 45th Regiment was reduced to 13 Officers and 110 men and the 25th had no more than 10 Officers and 57 men!

 

(2) Pierre GUILLOT had been injured 3 times during the terrible war in Spain: in his right foot in 1809, his left side in 1811 and his right thigh in 1813 at the same time as the Tolosa retreat in November. Imprisoned by the British, he was freed on the 18th June 1814 and was re-instated the following 1st of August,  with the title of 2nd Lieutenant in the 42nd Regiment of the new Royal Army where the flag bearer was Claude THOMASSIN. After the return of Napoleon, the 42nd once again became the 45th and THOMASSIN, judged as too royalist was dismissed, but strangely was made to attend on the 30th may 1815, to watch his friend GUILLOT named as the eagle bearer.

 

(3) Lieutenant Sir Thomas PICTON was killed in action. The losses of the PACK brigade (Royal Scots, Black Watch, Gordons and  East Essex ) were heavy. The 32nd or Cornwall Regiment which made up a part of the KEMPT brigade lost a flag.

 

(4) This magnificent work of art, painted in 1881 represents the 'Scots Greys' in full gallop, in the tradition of battle painters of the time. Most of the details are false, as false as the figures are on the Famous painting by Edouard DETAILLE representing the handing over of the gold crowns of Paris to the Imperial Guard Regiments on the 25th November 1807.

 

(5) We want to mention Marie STUART, who was married in 1558 to the future Francois II. Of course we know that his reign was very short as it only lasted from 1559 to 1560 but the fact remains!

 

(6) The register conserved in the archives of service history of the army, states simply that Pierre GUILLOT had been dismissed by his Regiment on the 26th September 1815 which proves this fine man wasn't dead, as he was still alive! Did he go back to the charming town of  Saint-Rémy in   Provence  where he was living on the 2nd September 1777? The actual level of our research means we cannot answer this question.

 

History, Officers Names, Casualty Details, Waterloo Campaign

In 1802 the Regiment saw service in Switzerland and from 1802 to 1805 it was part of L'Armee de Hanovre. The Regiment took part in the campaigns in Austria, Prussia, and Poland and was sent to Spain and saw service at Talavera, Chiclana,  Albuhera, Alba de Tormes, Vittoria and in Germany at Dresden in 1813. The rest of the regiment were seeing action at Nivelle, Orthez, and Toulouse. In 1815 it took part in the Waterloo campaign.

The original Latin motto for the Regiment was 'Hanc Coronam Mastreka Dedit' which translates roughly as 'Mastreka awarded this Crown'; or 'We will never surrender this Crown'; or 'The men of Mastreka will never surrender'. If anyone reading this site has a better understanding of the translation we would love to hear from you.

Attack on Hougoumont in 2007

Just a few of the current members of the modern day 45eme. Pictures by Wesley Miles

On 6th May 1814 the King decided to constitute a Superior Council of War, charged with the re-organisation of the army. On 12th May an ordinance came out limiting Line Infantry to 90 Regiments, which would follow immediately.

 

Each Regiment was comprised of a regimental staff (etat-major) and three battalions. For each Regiment there was a Colonel, a Major, three heads of battalions (chefs de bataillon), three adjutants-major, a quarter-master treasurer, a standard-bearer (port-drapeau), a surgeon major, an assistant surgeon-major, three sub-adjutant officers, a drum major and corporal, eight musicians (one a chief) and three master-tradesmen – being  a tailor, a cordwainer  ( cobbler/leatherworker) and an armourer).

 

Each of the three battalions consisted of a company of grenadiers, four companies of fusiliers, and a company of voltigeurs. Each company included a captain, a lieutenant, a second-lieutenant, a sergeant-major, four sergeants, a corporal-fourrier  (quarter-master corporal), eight corporals, two drummers (replaced by cornets in the voltigeurs), and fifty-six grenadiers, fusiliers or voltigeurs. Each company might have two “enfants de troup” (sons of common soldiers, supported by the state), not forgetting a corporal and twelve sappeurs spread through the ranks of the three companies of grenadiers.  That gave a total for each regiment of sixty-seven officers and 1312 men.

 

On 1st August 1814, at Conde, the former 45th Regiment took the number 42. It was formed with the help of the survivors of the 45th, the First Battalion of the 10th Regiment of Tirailleurs (light infantry) of the Guard, the 2nd Battalion of the 129th, a detachment of the 141st and the survivors of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 154th. On the following 28th October the new 42nd was placed under the command of Colonel Guillame Chapuzet, former Major of the 154th and Officer of the Legion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour).

 

The ten premier regiments each took a name as follows: The King, The Queen, Dauphin, Monsieur, Angouleme, Berry, Orleans, Conde, Bourbon, and Colonel General under the command of the Prince of Conde.

 

Each regiment had only one flag, the 42nd got theirs in September 1814. Like all the others it was made of white taffeta, its’ sides 1.5 metres long, and moreover alongside the inscriptions and gilded border it bears the arms of France in an azure oval.

 

The year ended calmly and on 16th January 1815, the King returned the Sabre Briquet (a short sabre) to all the companies of Voltigeurs, with a ban on keeping them as souvenirs when the soldier got his final  leave!

 

But the 1st March 1815 everything “seesawed” afresh.  Napoleon was coming to disembark in Golf Juan with his army of “Grognards” (grumblers/moaners) and march on Paris.  Since the 6th, he is declared a traitor and rebel, but in reality his advance is triumphal.  

 

The 11th March, at Lyon, he re-institutes the tricolore cockade and on 20th he enters Paris without having spilled a drop of blood.  But an uneasy Europe mobilises its forces, and despite his pacifist declarations the Emperor prepares for war, and from 28th March he invites all the old Officers and soldiers to resume their service, and promises to let them go back to civilian life at the signing of Peace (declaration). He hesitates to re-establish conscription, done away with by the King Louis XVIII and deeply unpopular.  The 9th April 1815 , Napoleon announces the manufacture of new Eagles.  The 90 Infantry Regiments of the Line take back their old numbers, and each of them is formed into 4 Battalions.  So as to deal with first things first, the first 2 will be completed with 720 men.  The 3rd must take volunteers and men returning from leave.

 

In the near future one must foresee the formation of a fourth and then a fifth battalion.

 

The 12th May 1815, the 42nd becomes once again the 45th of the Line.  Colonel Chapuzet is now kept in his post,  that is not the case for the Lieutenant Standard Bearer Thomassin who, judged too “royalist”,  is replaced by Lieutenant Pierre Guillot but it’s not until the parade of 10th June 1815 close to Valenciennes that the new tricolore flag will be presented to the Regiment.

 

Whilst fighting in Spain in 1809, Pierre Guillot took a shot in the right foot.  Still in Spain in 1811, he suffered a lance wound in his left flank.  2 years later he was wounded in the right thigh.  Yet again in Spain, he was taken prisoner by the English on 1.11.1813.  Freed on 18.6.1814, he returned to the town of Conde where his regiment had its base.  Guillot was born on 2.9.1771 at St Remy de Provence, and was laid off with his regiment on 26.9.1815 in France.

Regimental History During the Restoration and Waterloo Campaign.

 

(Thanks to Kathryn Bentley , Cantiniere, 45eme, for the translation of the following information)